BOSTON TEA PARTY
(a radio play)

ACT I.

Scene I. The Green Dragon tavern.

JOHN HANCOCK and PAUL REVERE 
are at a table near the Bartender.

Enter SAM'L ADAMS
	Sam'l walks into the tavern. (tavern shouts and voices)

John: 	At last, our fellow has arrived!
		A drink to our dear Sam'l Adams!

All: 	Huzzah! Huzzah! 
(clinking glasses and shouts)

Sam'l: 	My fellow Sons of Liberty, 
		the night is as cold and still as ever 
		was a night in Boston! 

All: 					Huzzah! Huzzah!

John: 	Would you care for a hot cup of tea
		to warm you up, Sam'l?
(clinking glasses and laughs)

Sam'l:	I may not be a party man Mr. Hancock,
		But I am a man, and I do party!
(clinking glasses and laughs)
		Bartender, bring me a pint of ale!

Bartender: Yes, sir!

Sam'l: 	My dear fellows, my dear fellows.
(everyone quiets down) 
		A word or two. As you are all well aware, 
		ever since May, since the Tea Act was imposed, 
		we have been pushed around by his Royal Heinous, 
		and sent scouring for the crumbs under his
		Majesty's table, while the East India Company 
		bends over to lick the royal hand dry.
		The Dartmouth, the first of their many ships, 
		has been stationed in the harbor for weeks now.
		(raising his voice) 
		But Governor... Hutchinson (boos),
		still refuses to budge..
(more boos and scuffling)
		Good friend, Paul Revere, what say you 
		to this abomination?

Paul: 	I say it's time for us to rally boys!

All: 	Huzzah! Huzzah!

Sam'l: 	Should we be consigned to lose our own 
		colonial proceeds to a large English company?

All:	NO!

John:	Heavens no!

Paul:	What say you good Sam'l?

Sam'l: 	As far as I am aware, the foul
		creatures involved notwithstanding,
		the tea will never make it back to England...

Paul: 	Well, we certainly won't purchase it!

Sam'l:	Not for all the tea in China!

John: 	And I, most certainly, will not be the first to drink it,
		That vile bohea!

All:	Hear hear!

Paul: 	Well we can't sit around drinking ale
		waiting for a solution...

Sam'l:	I'm content with it at the moment.

Paul:	We have been oppressed for far too long!
		It's time for the Sons of Liberty to act!
(clinking glasses and shouts)
		What can we do??
(silence)

Bartender: Throw the tea in the harbor!

Paul: 	Throw the tea in the harbor!?
Sam'l	Throw the tea in the harbor? (at the same time)

John: 	Throw the tea in the harbor?

John and Paul:	Yesss, throw the tea in the harbor!

John:	It's a grand idea!

Sam'l:	Throw the tea in the harbor...?

Paul:	Why.. we could do it tonight.
		Get all the sons of liberty!
		For the freedom of Boston!

John, Paul, and Bartender:	Hear, hear!

Paul:	...We... would need to disguise ourselves.

Sam'l:	This meeting can do nothing further
		To save this country. (a bit sarcastically)

Paul: 	What if we were to ... 
		Dress... as.. women!
John: 					Savages! (at the same time)

Bartender: Yes. Savages.

Paul:	Yes... Savages!
		We could... be... the... 
		Narragansetts!
John:					Mohawks! (at the same time)

Bartender: Yes. Mohawks.

Paul:	Yes... The Mohawks! 
		We'll wear blankets and feathers.

Sam'l:	Faces should be painted as well...

Paul:	We should bring tomahawks,
		to break open the chests!

John:	Even King George's silver spoon will be
		too small for this cup!
		I have a large feather I can wear.

Bartender: Is it as big as your signature? (sarcastically)

Paul:	Let us make haste!
		I'll ride now to rally the "Mohawks".
		Bartender, may I borrow a horse?

Bartender: Do you ride well, sir?

Paul:	I am of the best in all New England!
		Within the hour let us meet here again
		whence we shall creep our way
		to the harbor, board the Dartmouth,
		and the rest . . . will be history . . .
(clinking of glasses and raucous laughter)

Bartender: Yes. History.

Sam'l:	This is going to be quite the tempest in the tea pot.

Paul: 	Boston Harbor a tea-pot tonight!
(clinking glasses and more laughs)

Exit PAUL REVERE, singing:
Rally Mohawks, and bring your axes
And tell King George we'll pay no taxes
on his foreign tea;

Narrator:	Yes... Rally Mohawks, and bring your axes.
	That night, the Sons of Liberty quietly dumped enough tea for a few million cups into the Boston harbor. Tea washed up on the shore for weeks and weeks, and folks said that if you were careful, you could detect just a little bit of China in the fish and chips. The news of the Tea Party spread far and wide. King George was furious. Eventually Governor Thomas Hutchinson fled to England. Back in the colonies the first Continental Congress met later that year. Our dear Sam'l Adams was present at that meeting. It was the first time the colonies met in an organized fashion to counter the power of the British Empire, asserting their rights of trade and establishing boycotts of goods, listing their grievances against the crown, responding to intolerable acts which encroached on their daily lives' peace and justice.. and well... you know the rest of the story.